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Badakhshan agriculture district departments learns how to support farmers in the province

Representatives from various district agriculture departments in Badakhshan province gather in Faizabad to attend training in English and computer skills for better service delivery to farmers.

20.03.2014

In Badakhshan province, agriculture is one of the main economic factors that can lead to elimination of poverty.

A total of 20 participants from various districts, including Ishkashem, Keshem, Shuhada, Teshkan, Argo, Baharak, Yatali Payan, Jurm and Shugnand,took courses in basic English and computing to improve IT and software operating skills.

Today, as part of an Afghan-German cooperation initiative, 21 days of training in English and computer skills for district agricultural departments came to close in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan. The training is an additional support measure of a large-scale office and IT equipment delivery project for the district offices of Badakhshan’s Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Department . A total of 20 participants from various districts, including Ishkashem, Keshem, Shuhada, Teshkan, Argo, Baharak, Yatali Payan, Jurm and Shugnand,took courses in basic English and computing to improve IT and software operating skills, for better quantitive and qualitative agricultural service delivery to the population of Badakhshan. To mark the graduation of the 21-day training, the Director of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (DAIL), Mr. Mohammad Alem Alemi hosted a ceremony with Afghan-German Cooperation representatives attending.

With the majority of the population in the province working in agriculture and livestock to improve their incomes especially in the districts, their livelihood directly depends on increasing job opportunities and economic progress in their community. The training helps the district agricultural departments in charge of projects in districts, financed either by the Afghan government or contributions from donors. With the English language and computer skills they gained from the training, the public sector workers in the provincial and district departments can now work better in close cooperation with national and international organizations to speed up agricultural service delivery and help farmers improve agricultural and livestock production.

The training was part of larger project proposed by the DAIL in Badakhshan and was approved by the Badakhshan Provincial Development Committee (PDC). Technical support came from the Regional Capacity Development Fund (RCDF) and funding came from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

As part of the Afghan-German Cooperation strategy, the RCDF is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The RCDF provides supports for its Afghan partners’ development priorities both on a provincial and a district level in six of Afghanistan’s Northern provinces. At the same time, the RCDF provides training and coaching programmes for civil servants. With its broad range of activities, the RCDF aims to increase Afghan ownership of the development process, strengthen Afghan state institutions on the sub-national level and promote transparency and inclusiveness.